The Associated Press

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has signed legislation allowing the use of $189 million in federal education money to fill shortfalls in state funding.

Nixon signed the measure Monday at a high school in Linn, about a half-hour east of Jefferson City.

The federal money won't yield a net increase in the funding of local school districts. But it will help avoid a reduction in basic state aid to schools during this and future academic years.

Will be updated.

Funding for education is being pitted against aid to the elderly and disabled as Missouri lawmakers attempt to negotiate a final version of the state budget.

Negotiations stalled shortly after they started Monday because of a disagreement among House and Senate members about how much Missouri can afford to spend in the fiscal year that starts July 1.

At issue are the amounts of money going toward public school busing, colleges and universities, in-home care providers for the disabled and prescription drug aid for seniors and the disabled.

Osama bin Laden is Dead

Missouri lawmakers are reacting to the news that the mastermind of 9-11 has been killed by US Forces. In a statement, Republican Senator Roy Blunt calls Osama bin Laden’s death a major victory for America. Missouri’s Democratic Senator, Claire McCaskill, calls bin Laden’s death quote “justice delivered.”

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to halt a plan by the Army Corps of Engineers to blast open a levee to relieve the rain-swollen Mississippi River.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito did not comment Sunday night in denying Missouri's request to block the corps' plan. Alito handles emergency requests from Missouri and other states in the 8th Circuit in the Midwest.

Maj. Gen. Michael Walsh says a decision has not yet been made on whether to breech the levee. 

Last week, St. Louis Police Chief Dan Isom confirmed that he was in the running to become the next superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.

But today, that seems to have changed.

The Chicago Police Board says two members of the city's police department and the police chief in Newark, N.J. are the three finalists to become Chicago's next police superintendent.